A former Lawrence police sergeant who sued the city and Police Chief Tarik Khatib in 2012 was not fired for racist or retaliatory reasons, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

Former Lawrence Police Sgt. Michael Monroe filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging racial discrimination and wrongful termination.

Michael Monroe, formerly sergeant of the Lawrence Police Department’s investigations division, was terminated in March 2012 following an investigation into allegations he had dismissed a KU Athletics employee’s speeding tickets in exchange for Kansas University athletic events tickets.

In his memorandum decision, U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren wrote that Monroe alleged he was “fired for being in the wrong place (in the Lawrence Police Department), at the wrong time (during the 2011-2012 Kansas University ticket scandal). With the wrong people (biased decisionmakers), and having the wrong skin color (black).”

After receiving two anonymous tips, the LPD began to “scrutinize more closely” the actions within the department, according to court documents. The LPD conducted two investigations, one in 2010 and another in 2011, the first of which went unsubstantiated.

During both investigations, Monroe revealed that “several years earlier” he had dismissed two to three traffic citations given to Rodney Jones, former assistant athletics director for KU Athletics’ Williams Educational Fund — and had his wife buy Jones “a bottle of vodka” at the request of former LPD Sgt. Matt Sarna.

“Monroe explained that he dismissed the tickets because (Jones) and (Sarna) were friends,” court documents said. “Monroe also described attending certain athletic events using tickets and parking passes originally provided by (Jones) or (Sarna).”

Monroe said he paid for the tickets, aside from one occasion. Jones was later sentenced to more than three and a half years in federal prison for taking part in a $2 million ticket scheme that illegally delivered thousands of tickets for KU basketball and football games to brokers and other parties.

After reviewing the interviews and investigations in early 2012, Khatib decided to fire Sarna and demote Monroe from his sergeant position. Monroe denied the allegations after learning of the decision, so Khatib allowed Monroe to undergo a final interview, according to court documents.

Monroe revealed in the third interview that as recently as Jan. 16, 2012 — while the investigation was underway — he accepted free tickets to a KU basketball game from another person affiliated with KU Athletics for whom he had dismissed traffic tickets. Khatib said the act “further underscore(d) (Monroe’s) lack of judgment,” according to court documents.

After that, Khatib changed his mind, deciding to fire Monroe instead of demoting him. In Monroe’s termination letter, Khatib said Monroe also evaded “direct culpability” by claiming his wife was the one who used KU Athletics parking permits and denying that he benefitted from them. He also said Monroe denied receiving anything from Jones for free and taking tickets from Sarna, but that “appear(ed) to be misrepresentations of facts.”

“The investigation had found that (Monroe) received three 2007 tournament game tickets from (Jones),” Khatib wrote to Monroe. “Additionally, (Monroe) attended a basketball game at Allen Field House … with tickets from (Sarna).”

Monroe then went through the city’s four-step grievance procedure to contest his termination, but that ultimately resulted in a confirmation that Monroe had been duly fired. That’s when Monroe decided to sue.

Monroe’s claims primarily focused on improper termination because of his race, based on the fact that Khatib did not take action against a white employee (Sarna) in the 2010 investigation, even though he did take action against Sarna along with Monroe in 2011.

In his lawsuit, Monroe said that Khatib, then an LPD captain, did not take action in 2010 after he allegedly became “fully aware of the possible misconduct of (Sarna).” According to court documents, Monroe brought this allegation to the city’s grievance panel in a written statement supporting his reasons to appeal his termination.

“It is clear that when the chief determined that the information would soon become public (in 2011), he changed the rules and determined that I should have come forward sooner despite his earlier failure to act,” Monroe wrote.

“These facts will certainly lead the public to believe that there was a cover-up at the police department, and that the only African-American supervisor on the police department was put forward as the scapegoat.”

The court found that Monroe properly evidenced that Khatib had treated him differently than white employees but that Monroe failed to show the treatment had an unlawful — or racial discrimination — motive.

“No evidence shows that Khatib adjusted his interpretations of the city’s policies so that he could fire Monroe but continue to employ similarly situated white employees that engaged in the same misconduct,” Melgren wrote in his memorandum decision.

Melgren ultimately ruled with the city and Khatib, finding that while Monroe may have felt he was terminated because of his race, “evidence shows” that they fired “under the sincere belief that he took uncharacteristic but nonetheless inexcusable actions.”

“Under the circumstances presented, feeling wronged does not amount to being wronged,” Melgren said.